Amstel Tower is Powerhouse Company's first skyscraper. At 100m tall, the project broke ground in Powerhouse Company's 10th anniversary year – an achievement that demonstrates our ambition, growth and zeal as a practice. The project shows our rich understanding of architectural forms, sensitivity to urban contexts, professional teamwork and ability to provide a great service to clients, to design buildings and then make them happen.

The Amstel Tower in Amsterdam is at the forefront of a new type of building in the Netherlands. Globalisation and individualisation are setting new demands on urban planning and property. The dividing line between living, working, shopping and leisure is fading. Public transport interchanges are being transformed into multifunctional places. Modern technologies are bridging time and distance for work. With space and land limited, infill and renewal developments are proving to be stable and sustainable solutions for our cities.

Powerhouse Company's design for the Amstel Tower, designed for real estate developer Provast, draws together the rapidly evolving needs for a successful city experience in a truly mixed-use and flexible skyscraper urban renewal project.

The Site: In Full Transformation

The Amstel Tower will rise alongside architect H.G.J. Schelling's monumental 1930s Amstel Station, Amsterdam's second busiest transport hub. The River Amstel on one side and the train, bus and subway interchange on another, the tower is at the centre of a newly burgeoning and exciting district.

The streets are being repaved, tramlines rerouted and trees planted to create an open and dynamic setting. New offices and housing are generating a buzz of activity. Restaurants and cafés are springing up around classic Amsterdam icons, including the grand café Dauphine.

The Amstel Tower will contribute to a lively meeting space at ground level, while enriching and connecting to the skyline of Amsterdam at a broader scale. The development turns the station's surroundings into a more attractive area, and pinpointing it on the map for the rest of the city.

A Slender Icon

Amstel Tower will be the highest residential and hotel tower in Amsterdam. The strategic position of the Amstel Station and the plot deserve a residential and hotel tower that is of outstanding quality. The municipal brief was to design an architectural icon with a slim tower to enhance the skyline and create limited shadows on its surroundings.

The maximum building envelope is 100 meter tall.

The maximum building volume is 21.500 m2.

The program splits in 7.500m2 hotel and 13.500 m2 residential.

We formed the residential programe in a tower to maximise height and still free the public space with a long plinth.

By rotating the tower we were able to minimise the effect from the railway a streets noise on the residential facade.

The diamond shape strenghtens the image from the important Wibaut-axe. This also reduses shadows on the near neighboorhood.

We rounded the corner for a softer appearance in contrast to the hard of towers adjecent.

With the canopies around the building we were able unify the building and to provide, balconies, passive sunshading and create a good windclimate on ground floor.

The 27,000 m2 building comprises three main parts: a 24-storey residential tower, a mid-rise plinth for an international hotel brand, and a re-landscaped ground level with parking garage and shopping arcade.

The combination of the high tower and the wide plinth make for a twofold impact on its context. The slender tower plays its part in the Amsterdam skyline, the Wibautstreet axes and the larger scale in the direct vicinity of the Amstel Station. The plinth on the other hand makes a direct connection with it surroundings. The building aims to repopulate and inject life into the area by creating luxurious contemporary facilities around a dynamic public space.

Height differences in the terrain and the connection to the higher situated bus station are characteristic of this location. To maximise the potential of these height di erences demanded careful research and dialogue with all parties concerned. The design of the ground floor is the key in linking and animating the public space.

The Vision: Simple, Responsive and Elegant

The design of the building is characterised by its simple palette of materials and its repeated, full-perimeter overhangs at each level. It takes its architectural cues from the existing canopy of the adjacent mid-century modern Amstel Station. These overhangs unify the varied components of the scheme, add texture to the fully glazed elevations and provide outdoor space for the apartments. The overhangs also create urban environmental benefits such as limiting the amount of noise from the railway and improving wind control at ground level.

In the design of the tower, the shape, volume and proportions are important. The plinth is about the programming of functions, the connections and relations with the street and the architecture of detail.

The tower shows itself extremely slim towards the city centre and unfolds towards the east of Amsterdam. The asymmetrical rounded shape makes for an all sided tower that is di erent in appearance from every angle. At this scale, the tower is optimised through a series of twists and shapes to limit shadow on its neighbours. The slim appearance of the Amstel Tower arises from the proportion between its limited footprint and height. The round and so shapes add to an elegant, classic appearance. Seen from the eastern neighboorhoods the tower blends in the exiting city scape. From the city centre a solutairy slender tower defines the new skyline.

Intricacies

The building contains 192 apartments, 168 m2 retail space and a 186-room hotel run by Meininger group, as well as an underground parking garage with shops under the new bus terminal. The apartments are compact in size, but have an open plan layout which makes them feel spacious and generous. Sliding doors and floor-to-ceiling glazing optimise daylight and the fantastic views out of the building over the city.

Eight apartments per floor maximise the views around. Each apartment is open and light in design. Spaces flow into one another; from living to kitchen from bedroom to bathroom. High quality architectural detailing enhances the luxury finish in these city apartments. The ground floor lobby is grand and welcoming.

Sustainability

The Amstel Tower has a very high sustainability ambition. An important element that also has expression in architecture are the canopies around the building. These provide passive sun shading and have the potential to hold photovoltaic cells. The installation concept can consist o a variety of di erent elements, including: PV cells, balanced ventilation, water reduction, energy monitoring, heat pump, sun boiler, low temperature heating and cooling, energy saving lighting and high insulation.